There’s a meme going around the Internet at the moment claiming that Donald Trump is a bit of an idiot. To outside eyes it does seem as though the President of the United States thumbs his nose at his own countries laws and administration far too often to be taken seriously.
People should take him deadly seriously though. Trump understands that in a world of mass media and fake news, not being talked about is akin to political death.
To this effect he’s designed his entire media strategy around gaining attention. In fact he’s an expert at manipulating the mainstream media and the public alike to promote himself above all others. Trump is a reactionist in every sense of the word.
Much of the President’s success comes from a clever strategy of controlling the sound bite. Trump always has a memorable answer to any criticism that not only makes sense to his followers, but is also designed to annoy anybody who has the time to dig into the details.
Insulting smart people’s intelligence might seem like a bad idea politically, but Trump understands that politics is a numbers game and attention spans are now shorter than ever.
Very few people read past the headlines these days, something I’m sure Cambridge Analytica made abundantly clear to the President during his election campaign. There is no question that Trump has a plethora of propaganda tools at his fingertips even Hitler would be proud of, which combined with his style is perfectly suited to controlling the American masses.
The Don will clearly do anything to attain and retain power. If that means doing dirty deals with the Russians to destroy political opponents, criticising his detractors through disinformation campaigns or targeting and assassinating high profile people from other countries to take the focus off his impeachment, then that is what Trump will do.
Some may view his grandstanding as patriotism, but make no mistake his recent bravado concerning Iran is all about Trump trying to secure his Presidency for a second term.
You may think the leader of the so-called free world wouldn’t be so callous as to risk the lives of thousands if not millions of people just for his own political gain? Think again. Recent events have clearly shown that Trump will do anything, including threatening to destroy Iran’s cultural sites, to secure himself in a position most of the world now views with disdain.
Everybody with half a brain knows that the case for killing Qasem Soleimani in Iraq was razor thin, while the benefits for Trump, that his impeachment has been delayed indefinitely as congress deals with the fallout, are considerable.
Not only does Trump, a climate change denier, take some of the focus off of Australia’s PM Scott Morrison’s mishandling of their unprecedented bush fires, he also gets to flex his countries military muscle and once again cast himself as the saviour of the Middle East.
The flip side to wining votes domestically however is extensive international criticism for undertaking what most are calling an unprovoked and unnecessary assassination.
In an attempt to calm their critics, the United States Congress says they will vote on another law change that could halt Trump's planned re-invasion of the Middle East. What they don’t say is that a similar vote has already been vetoed by Trump and they’re voting to halt an invasion that has been many years in the planning and has in fact already began.
In effect the United States Congress has become an impotent tool of a dictator, scrambling to save face in a world that has lost all respect for a largely soulless America. A master manipulator is not only playing them, they’re complicit through their own political failure in the Presidents morally repugnant crusade to save his own questionable political career.
People should take him deadly seriously though. Trump understands that in a world of mass media and fake news, not being talked about is akin to political death.
To this effect he’s designed his entire media strategy around gaining attention. In fact he’s an expert at manipulating the mainstream media and the public alike to promote himself above all others. Trump is a reactionist in every sense of the word.
Much of the President’s success comes from a clever strategy of controlling the sound bite. Trump always has a memorable answer to any criticism that not only makes sense to his followers, but is also designed to annoy anybody who has the time to dig into the details.
Insulting smart people’s intelligence might seem like a bad idea politically, but Trump understands that politics is a numbers game and attention spans are now shorter than ever.
Very few people read past the headlines these days, something I’m sure Cambridge Analytica made abundantly clear to the President during his election campaign. There is no question that Trump has a plethora of propaganda tools at his fingertips even Hitler would be proud of, which combined with his style is perfectly suited to controlling the American masses.
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| Donald Trump prays in the Oval Office |
The Don will clearly do anything to attain and retain power. If that means doing dirty deals with the Russians to destroy political opponents, criticising his detractors through disinformation campaigns or targeting and assassinating high profile people from other countries to take the focus off his impeachment, then that is what Trump will do.
Some may view his grandstanding as patriotism, but make no mistake his recent bravado concerning Iran is all about Trump trying to secure his Presidency for a second term.
You may think the leader of the so-called free world wouldn’t be so callous as to risk the lives of thousands if not millions of people just for his own political gain? Think again. Recent events have clearly shown that Trump will do anything, including threatening to destroy Iran’s cultural sites, to secure himself in a position most of the world now views with disdain.
....targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
Everybody with half a brain knows that the case for killing Qasem Soleimani in Iraq was razor thin, while the benefits for Trump, that his impeachment has been delayed indefinitely as congress deals with the fallout, are considerable.
Not only does Trump, a climate change denier, take some of the focus off of Australia’s PM Scott Morrison’s mishandling of their unprecedented bush fires, he also gets to flex his countries military muscle and once again cast himself as the saviour of the Middle East.
The flip side to wining votes domestically however is extensive international criticism for undertaking what most are calling an unprovoked and unnecessary assassination.
Someone better let the President know he's threatening war crimes.— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 4, 2020
- 52 sites for purely symbolic reasons would be a war crime.
- Striking cultural sites without military necessity would be a war crime
- Striking in revenge is a war crime
- Targeting civilians is a war crime
In an attempt to calm their critics, the United States Congress says they will vote on another law change that could halt Trump's planned re-invasion of the Middle East. What they don’t say is that a similar vote has already been vetoed by Trump and they’re voting to halt an invasion that has been many years in the planning and has in fact already began.
In effect the United States Congress has become an impotent tool of a dictator, scrambling to save face in a world that has lost all respect for a largely soulless America. A master manipulator is not only playing them, they’re complicit through their own political failure in the Presidents morally repugnant crusade to save his own questionable political career.
Trump saying the assassination was an act of peace, not an act of war, was a masterstroke in manipulating the narrative. Deluded followers thanked him profusely while labeling those who spoke out against another unjustified war crime as unpatriotic.
The false ‘weapons of mass destruction’ claim has been replaced with direct fear mongering about terrorism. Patriotism for America has in effect become a cancer to the rest of the world with fear, not loyalty, now binding western countries to the Red White and Blue.
Boris Johnson was given no advance warning of the US drone strike in Iraq, raising questions about the strength of US-UK relations as Donald Trump bids for a second term in power https://t.co/pp0KXntUqc— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 3, 2020
Trump has blundered strategically in both a political and operational sense. As Middle Eastern countries unite against America, the President is not only undoing Barrack Obama’s legacy, but also George Bush’s compliance with the CIA’s directive to destabilise the Middle East. The nuance of such matters however will unfortunately likely be lost on America's voting public.
